How did Israel begin? The Bible presents its own narrative, with a group of people migrating from Canaan to Egypt to escape famine; then becoming enslaved in Egypt, put to work in major building projects; and then finally leaving Egypt, wandering the Sinai Desert, and returning to their ancestral home. Explore current scholarly views on the origins of Israel through a survey of archaeological data and written remains from both Egypt and Israel. The conclusions paint a picture which is sometimes consistent, and other times at odds, with the biblical narrative.